When a disaster strikes, people look to community leaders and public safety (Police, Fire and EMS) personnel for assistance and guidence.  So, why do we still find communities, large and small, still unprepared to handle a major accident or disaster?

     Here is a little background.  I am currently serving as the full-time Director of Safety, Security & Emergency Management for a medium size hospital in Pennsylvania.  I am also currently serving as Firefighter in the U.S.A.F. Reserve, assigned to the fire training section.  Finally, before taking the hospital director position, I was a full-time Police Officer (now a part-time police officer) for 18-years. 

     One of the primary reasons I was hired as the director was because, I was trained and educated in more than one public safety discipline.  Furthermore, I have on my staff a Security Manager who is a former police officer and an Emergency Management Coordinator who is a retired firefighter.  Moreover, I have several Security Officers on staff who are currently serving or were former police officers or firefighters.  This is what communities need.  They need leaders and public safety personnel that are trained and educated in more than one discipline, at least at an awareness level.

     During disasters, many hospitals throughout these United States are required to be self-sufficient for approximately 96-hours.  In other words, hospitals must be able to deal not only the disaster itself and it's impact on the hospital, but also the patient surge associated with the disaster.  All of this without community support. 

     So, in order to be self-sufficient, my management staff and I developed  a new in-service training curriculum that still has all the mandatory requirements, but also has basic fire fighting, police and basic first aid incorporated into it. For example, Evidence Handling Procedures has been added to the training outline.  The reason why evidence handling procedures was added was because, if an incident involving terrorism occurred, the victims that the hospital receives are considered potential evidence and everything associated with the victim is to be considered potential evidence.  Therefore, nursing staff, medical staff and security staff receive periodic training on evidence handling procedures. 

     By training community leaders and public safety personnel on various aspects of police, fire and emergency management, it will reduce the impact that a disaster will have on a community simply because, the community leaders and public safety personnel will know how to deal with the incident more effectively.

Recommendation:  Mayors, Fire Commissioners, Police Chiefs, etc. must get together and create a plan to better train First Responders and others on various aspects associated with disasters.  FEMA courses IS-100, 200, 300, 400, 700, and 800 is a good start.  Also tap into community resources to present and forward a training program.